The 13th Annual Gagetown Invitational took place this past Saturday at the CFB Gagetown indoor track. With this being the first meet of the season, over 180 athletes competed and many personal bests were set, along with 16 provincial records!

- Jason Bouchard (FLTC) of Oromocto broke his own senior men's 200m record in a blazing fast time of 22.57. This is the fastest ever time run by a New Brunswicker.

- Aaron LeBlanc (ASEA) , of Memramcook who broke several weight throw records last year, once again broke the junior men's weight throw record, throwing 14.75m with the 25lbs weight. This beats out his former record by over 70cm!

- Veronica Coombes (ASEA) of Shediac Cape performed incredibly well, the young wheelchair racer broke 3 provincial records! Veronica broke the 60m T54 record, racing 13.90 (breaking her previous record by over .60 seconds, the 200m T54 record, racing 39.23 (breaking her previous record by 1.45 seconds!), and the 400m T54 record, racing 1:21.08 (breaking her previous record by almost .25 seconds!).

-Gavin Westbrook (MCN) of Oromocto broke the bantam boys 1200m record with a time of 3:49.56

-Anthony Cormier (SJTC) of Saint John set a new Midget 300m record with a time of 38.70.

- David Jefferson (SJTC) of Saint John in the master’s age group 65-70, broke his own record for high jump, jumping 1.18m, set a new long jump record with 2.82, and broke the weight throw record with a throw of 9.30m!

-Rebecca Lagacé (SJTC)of Saint John broke 3 W35-40 master records , first in the 60m with a time of 9.84 , then in the shot put with a toss 8.33m finally in the weight toss with a throw of 8.88m .

-Paul Gautier (SJTC) of Quispamsis , another master thrower not only broke 2 provincial record but also set a Canadian record in the shot put with a toss of 13m22.

--Paul Gautier (SJTC) of Rothesay , another master thrower not only broke 2 provincial record but also set a Canadian record in the shot put with a toss of 13m22.

"With results like these coming out in just the first meet of the season, I cannot wait to see how the rest of the season goes" said Athletics New Brunswick Technical Director Gabriel LeBlanc. "In just the first meet we have already had 13 provincial records set, and many personal bests, which is truly astonishing!"

The next indoor track meet is the last one before 2013 a great chance for athletes to break the provincial records before moving up an age group. The Last Chance Meet, to take place on December 22nd at the CEPS in Moncton. Registration is open and can be found here: http://www.trackie.com/online-registration/event.php?id=676

Nov 25 2012 - New Brunswick shine National at Cross Country Championships

The Canadian Cross Country Championships wrapped up this past Saturday in Jericho Beach Park in Vancouver. This was the last cross country meet of the season, with athletes now heading indoors for the indoor track season. Many New Brunswick athletes made the trip to Vancouver to compete, with a few placing very highly.

On the women's side:
- Katie Robinson (SJTC) of Saint John placed 89th in the Junior Women's 5km race, finishing in 19:23.19.
- Genevieve Lalonde (SJTC) of Moncton placed 12th in the Senior Women's 7km, finishing in 24:24.10.
On the men's side:
- Matt McNeil (SJTC) of Saint John placed 16th in the Junior Men's 8km, finishing in 25:32.63.
- Lee Wesselius (ASEA) of River Glade placed 36th in the Junior Men's 8km, finishing in 26:09.39.
- Alex Mcallister (FFT) of Fredericton placed 133rd in Junior Men's 8km, finishing in 28:50.37.
- Nick Macmackin (SJTC), who won the provincial high schoolchampionships just last month, was in 10th at the 2km mark, however unfortunately twisted an ankle not too far after and had to drop out
- Ryan Cassidy (O2) who won gold in the Junior Men's 8km last year, finished 7th in the Senior Men's 10km in 30:20.84.
- Barry Britt (SJTC) who won silver in the Senior Men's 10km last year, finished 9th in the Senior Men's 10km in 30:39.57.
Both Ryan Cassidy and Barry Britt are eligible for the NACAC Cross Country Championships in Mandeville, Jamaica. Team announcement will be announce later this week.
Team Atlantic took the provincial title for the junior men's race, with Mike Tate (Nova Scotia), Matt McNeil (New Brunswick), Lee Wesselius (New Brunswick), Matt Noseworthy (Nova Scotia), Tyler Landry (Nova Scotia), and Alex Mcallister (New Brunswick) making up the team. The team won the title by over a minute!
"All of these athletes have worked incredibly hard to get here and the work has certainly payed off" said Athletics New Brunswick Technical Director Gabriel LeBlanc. "All of these athletes have shown their talents on the national stage several times now and have always shown that New Brunswick can be a leading province in athletics."

Nov 25 2012 - Athletics New Brunswick names it's 2012 awards winners

Athletics New Brunswick is pleased to announce its 2012 award recipients. The ANB awards Gala is held annually to recognize the accomplishments and contributions of our athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers in Athletics. 2012 has been a very successful year for Track and field in New Brunswick with over 50 provincial records being set.

Female Bantam athlete of the year

Samantha Taylor , Canterbury CYA

Male Bantam athlete of the year

Cole Healey , Saint John, SJTC

Female midget athlete of the year

Victoria LeBlanc Saint John SJTC

Male Midget athlete of the year

Colin Belliveau, Bouctouche CEK

Female youth athlete of the year

Katie Robinson Saint John SJTC

Male youth athlete of the year

Nick MacMackin Quispamsis , SJTC

Female junior athlete of the year

Sarah Taplin Moncton UNA

Male junior athlete of the year

Ryan Cassidy Grand Digue O2

Senior female athlete of the year

Genvieve Lalonde Moncton O2

Senior male athlete of the year

Michael LeBlanc Riverview ASEA

Para Athlete of the year

Shayne Dobson Cambeltton ASEA

Master Athlete of the year

Paul Gautier Rothesay SJTC

2011 Cross Country Junior male athlete of the year

Ryan Cassidy Grand Digue 02

2011 Cross Country Senior male athlete of the year

Barry Britt Hampton SJTC

2011 Cross country Female junior athlete of the year

Grace Annear , Hampton, SJTC

2011 Cross country Female athlete of the year

Geneviève Lalonde Moncton O2

Coach of the year

Alex Coffin and Bill MacMackin Saint John & Quispamsis SJTC

Official of the year

Carl Cummings Beaverdam

Volunteer of the year

Ron LeBlanc Dieppe ASEA

‘’2012 was an extremely success full year for our athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers’’ said Gabriel LeBlanc Technical Director of Athletics New Brunswick ‘’ It was extremely difficult for our selection committee to chose the winners as we had so many worthy candidates’’ added LeBlanc.

Nov 20 2012 - 8 New Brunswick athletes at Cross Country Nationals

This Saturday, the top cross country runners in the country will travel to Vancouver to compete at the 2012 Cross Country Canadian Championships. New Brunswick will be very well represented with 8 athletes representing the province.

Last year’s silver medalist Barry Britt of Hampton will once again run the senior race 10km race he will be joined by last year’s Junior Champion Ryan Cassidy of Grand Digue who will run the senior race for the first time.

New Brunswick will also be represented in the junior boys 8km race , Nick MacMackin of Quispamsis the current NBIAA champion will make his debut at the National Cross Country Chapionships. He will be joined by Matt MacNeil of Saint John , Alex McAllister of Fredericton and Lee Wesselius of River Glade.

On the women’s Geneviève Lalonde ,of Moncton, last year CIS champion will compete in the senior 8km race while Katie Robinson of Saint John will run the Junior 5km race.

'' The quality athletes that will represent New Brunswick to these champioships is among the best group we have ever sent to these Championships '' noted Gabriel LeBlanc technical Director of Athletics New Brunswick. '' This shows the strenght of our cross country program'' added LeBlanc

The 2012 Canadian Cross Country Championships take place November 24 at Jericho Park in Vancouver, British-Columbia and will be used as a qualifying meet for the NACAC Cross country Championships ( taking place on January 26th in Mandeville , Jamaica ) and the World Cross Country Championships (taking place March 24th in Pydgoszcz, Poland)

Nov 20 2012 - Oromocto set to host 13th Annual Gagetown Invitational

This Saturday (November 24th), Athletics New Brunswick will be hosting the 13th Annual Gagetown Invitational in Oromocto. Over 140 athletes are already registered , among them many of New Brunswick rising stars.

In the men’s sprint (60m and 200m) all eyes will be on Jason Bouchard of Oromocto who last year broke the 200m provincial record. Fredericton’s Matthew McLaughlin is the top ranked in the 300m the NBIAA record holder will also take part in the 200m. Pierre Dumouchel of Saint John is favored in the 1500m and 800m while Aaron LeBlanc of Memramcook will try to beat his own New Brunswick Junior record in the Weight Throw, he will also take part in the shot put.

On the Women’s side, New Brunswick fastest Junior Livia Clarke of Fredericton will contend in the 60m and 200m. New Brunswick record holder Zoe Berry of Fredericton will compete in the Weight throw and Shot Put. Also in action will be Veronica Colombes New Brunswick fastest ever female wheelchair racers (60m, 200m and 400m).

Also in action at this event will be some of the top university athletes in Atlantic Canada including athletes from Saint Thomas, UNB and Dalhousie University.

‘’This competition gives our athletes a chance to see where they are in their training and preparation’’ noted Gabriel LeBlanc Technical Director of Athletics New Brunswick ‘’ Also some of our athletes will try to break provincial records before changing age groups in 2013’’

Events start at 11am and will conclude at 4:30pm. The ANB awards Gala will follow this event at the Burton Lions Club starting at 5:30.

Meet Package can be found here: http://anb.ca/Calendar/documents/2012%20Gagetown%20Indoor%20final.pdf

While Schedule can be found here: http://anb.ca/Calendar/documents/gagetown-session%20(2).pdf

Nov 18 2012 - Sport NB Pitney Bowes Awards

Congratulation to Bill MacMackin and Alex Coffin who were named Coaches of the year at the 2012 Sport NB Pitney Bowes Awards. Also ANB member Reid Burrows won the President Award for the sport of Triathlon.

The Sport New Brunswick Pitney Bowes Sport Awards are held in November each year. The Comfort Inn Female Coach of the Year and the Comfort Inn Male Coach of the Year is presented annually to New Brunswick's outstanding coach of the year.

Out of some 40 plus nominations, our Past President, Harold Nicholson, was awarded the national Investors Group Volunteer Sport Administrator of the Year Award at the Coaching Association of Canada Awards Gala in Montreal on Friday 10 November, 2012. The Awards Gala was part of CAC’s Sport Leadership Conference.

Asked to comment, Harold replied:

Recognition of my efforts to build a well respected amateur sport organization here in New Brunswick at no time ever crossed my mind. When I first took over as President of Athletics New Brunswick in 1989 it was a small, “kitchen-table” organization with little written policies and mired in petty jealousies between various clubs. As its new President I was determined to see that the association had a written set of policies and procedures that was transparent and fair to all members no matter where they were located across New Brunswick. Some 22 years later when I finally stepped down – it was likely long past the time to do so – and with the help of a lot of people, and I want to mention one in particular, our Technical Director from 2000 to 2011, Dave Thomas, along with Carol Mulholland and Gabe LeBlanc – I feel I turned over to my successor an well organized and run association that is very highly regarded by both our main “sponsor”, the provincial government, and our national body, Athletics Canada.

Nov 12 2012 - Coaches week

During the week of November 13 to November 21st Coach NB is celebrating its 8th annual Coaches week. Athletics New Brunswick would like to take this time to acknowledge the great work of all of its coaches ! Your dedication to our sport and our youth is truly amazing! THANK Y0U!

The CIS Cross Country Championships took place this past Saturday in London, Ontario. Weather conditions turned out near perfect with the temperature at 11 degrees Celsius. Many New Brunswick athletes were there representing their universities, with three of them placing in the top 10.
On the women's side:
- Genevieve Lalonde,of Moncton, who won this event last year, running for University of Guelph, just narrowly missed the podium, placing 4th in 17:31, with third place being less than a second ahead!
- Nadine Frost, of Bocabec also running for University of Guelph, finished 9th in 17:47.
-Frida Aspnaes, a exchange student from Sweden running for University of New Brunswick, finished in 12th in 17:55.
- Lydia Frost, of Bocabec also running for University of Guelph, finished 47th in 18:55.
- Lynette Manuel, of Oromocto running for St. FX, finished 62nd in 19:19.
- Rachel McCarvill, running for University of New Brunswick, finished 67th in 19:22.
- Genevieve Dostaler, running for Universite De Moncton, finished 107th in 20:32.
The race winner was won by Andrea Seccafien (Guelph) in 17:23.4, 2nd Carise Thompson also Guelph in 17:30.7 while Victoria Coates of McMaster was 3rd in 17:31.4.
On the men's side:
- Ryan Cassidy,of Grand Digue running for University of Victoria, finished 10th in 32:04.
- Jeremie Pellerin, of Cocagne running for Universite De Moncton, finished 37th in 33:00.
- Matt McNeil, of Saint John running for Dalhousie University, finished 66th in 33:47.
- Lee Wesselius, of River Glade running for St. FX, finished 77th in 34:10.
- Dylan Hebert, of Salsbury running for Universite De Moncton, finished 89th in 34:33.
The race was won by Kelly Wiebe of Regina in 30:21.4 while Ross Proudfoot of Guelph was 2nd in 31:05.4 and Aaron Hendrikx of Guelph was 3rd in 31:09.9.
The men's and women's team titles went to University of Guelph.
"It's great to see this amount of New Brunswick athletes competing at the national championships, but to see three of them in the top ten is fantastic!" said Gabriel LeBlanc, Technical Director of Athletics New Brunswick. "Many of these athletes will compete at the Canadian Cross Country Championships to be held on the 24th in Vancouver, British Columbia."
Full Results can be found here: http://www.trackie.com/track-and-field/results/ResultsDocs/2012CISX-Country.pdf

Nov 2 2012 - Finalists for ANB awards

Athletics New Brunswick is very pleased to announce the finalists for their annual awards. The awards will be handed out at the 2012 ANB Gala, being held on November 24th 2012 at the Burtons Lions Club.

The 2012 track and field season was one of New Brunswick’s most successful in history. Some of the highlights of the season include over 60 new provincial records along with many National medals .

Female Bantam athlete of the year

Bailey Lockard , Fredericton ,FFT

Janica Schofield , Quispamsis SJTC

Samantha Taylor , Canterbury CYA

Male Bantam athlete of the year

Cole Healey , Saint John, SJTC

Donnie Grant, Moncton ASEA

Renaud Beaudin, Pigeon-Hill, APA

Female midget athlete of the year

Chelsey Hall Upper Kingsclear, FFT

Louisa Schwarz Fredericton, FLTC

Marilyn Nowlan Bouctouche CEK

Victoria LeBlanc Saint John SJTC

Male Midget athlete of the year

Andrew LeBlanc , Fredericton FFT

Anthony Cormier Saint Jean SJTC

Colin Belliveau, Bouctouche CEK

Paul Tremblay Saint John SJTC

Female youth athlete of the year

Jennifer Bell Chaplin Island ACA

Katie Robinson Saint John SJTC

Sydney McDonald Miramichi ASEA

Shawna McKay Moncton ASEA

Male youth athlete of the year

Jacob Hayes Quispamsis SJTC

Joshua Shanks Chance Harbour SJTC

Matthew McLaughlin New Maryland FFT

Nick MacMackin Quispamsis , SJTC

Female junior athlete of the year

Livia Clarke Fredericton FFT

Sarah Taplin Moncton UNA

Zoe Berry Estet's Bridge FLTC

Male junior athlete of the year

Aaron LeBlanc Memramcook ASEA

Ryan Cassidy Grand DigueO2

Matt MacNeil Saint JohnSJTC

Senior female athlete of the year

Genvieve Lalonde Moncton O2

Grace Annear Hampton SJTC

Nadine Frost Bocabec CCTC

Lydia Frost Bocabec CCTC

Senior male athlete of the year

Barry Britt Hampton SJTC

Chris Robertson Moncton ASEA

Michael LeBlanc Riverview ASEA

Réjean Chaisson Tilley Road UNA

Para Athlete of the year

James Brace Intervel ASEA

Shayne Dobson Cambeltton ASEA

Veronica Coombes Shediac Cape ASEA

Master Athlete of the year

Andrew Justason Fredericton FLTC

David Jefferson Saint John SJTC

Erik Klein Hampton SJTC

Paul Gautier Rothesay SJTC

2011 Cross Country Junior male athlete of the year

Lee Wesseliusb RIver Glade ASEA

Matt McNeil Saint John SJTC

Ryan Cassidy Grand Digue 02

2011 Cross Country Senior male athlete of the year

Barry Britt Hampton SJTC

2011 Cross country Female junior athlete of the year

Grace Annear , Hampton, SJTC

Katie Robinson Saint John SJTC

2011 Cross country Female athlete of the year

Geneviève Lalonde Moncton O2

Lydia Frost Bocabec CCTC

Nadine Frost Bocabec CCTC

The following awards will be presented to the recipients listed below at the ANB awards Gala

Coach of the year

Alex Coffin and Bill MacMackin Saint John & Quispamsis SJTC

Official of the year

Carl Cummings Beaverdam

Volunteer of the year

Ron LeBlanc Dieppe ASEA

‘’2012 was an extremely success full year for our athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers’’ said Gabriel LeBlanc Technical Director of Athletics New Brunswick ‘’ It was extremely difficult to narrow down 3-4 per category as we had so many worthy candidates’’

The ANB Gala will take place on November 24th the 2012 at the Burton Lions Club. Tickets for the Gala are $20 and must be purchased online at www.anb.ca before November 16th. Please note that tickets will not be available after his date.